PM out of line

The comments this morning from our Prime Minister that his government's sole purpose in renegotiating the Renewable Energy Target was to tear down wind energy are gobsmackingly inappropriate.

Talking to renowned wind farm hater, Alan Jones on Sydney radio on Thursday, Mr Abbott made it clear that the industry-wrecking impasse around the RET, which has cost Australia over $2 billion in investment, was all about tearing down wind energy.

"What we did recently in the Senate was reduce, Alan, reduce, capital R-E-D-U-C-E the number of these things that we are going to get in the future," he said.

"Now I would frankly have liked to have reduced the number a lot more."

When did it become OK for the Prime Minister to target an entire industry that employs thousands of Australians?

We thought he wanted to be known as the infrastructure Prime Minister!

Here's our response to the media today:

THE AUSTRALIAN Wind Alliance has slammed comments from Prime Minister Tony Abbott that the cuts to the Renewable Energy Target were designed to reduce the number of windfarms in Australia.

“What we are managing to do through this admittedly imperfect deal with the Senate is to reduce the growth rate of this particular sector as much as the current Senate would allow us to do,” the Prime Minister told Jones.

Australian Wind Alliance National Co-ordinator Andrew Bray said the comments exposed the government’s true intentions on the Renewable Energy Target.

“These comments are extraordinary. Our Prime Minister has just admitted to setting out deliberately to destroy a viable industry in Australia, one that could provide jobs to many Australians, investment to regional communities and new income to farmers.

“Not only that but he regrets that he wasn’t able to gut the industry even further.

“The government has always maintained that it was cutting the RET due to an oversupply of electricity. But it’s obvious that rationale was just smoke and mirrors to cover up their real intent: to destroy wind energy in Australia.

“What other industries will the Government see fit to destroy because they don’t like the look of it?

“Australians love renewable energy. They want more wind power and more solar. In the long run it will be cheaper, more efficient and provide a strong reliable foundation for our economy.

“This ideologically-driven attack on wind energy in Australia is further proof that the only threats to a thriving renewable energy industry in Australia are political ones.”